The Coronavirus pandemic may be considered the single most impactful event that the world has seen in almost one hundred years. You and I would be hard-pressed to find any other event in modern history that has had such widespread effect in so short a time.
Presently, rapid changes are happening at once, on a global scale, and across virtually all industries. It affects the way we work, learn, and even the way we entertain ourselves.
But so far, there is one critical aspect of everyday life that has not been severely affected by the pandemic. Homes remain the primary safe space that we can retreat into to escape the risk of exposure in public places.
More than ever, homes are an island of peace in a raging sea of uncertainty. They are the one place people can experience a sense of calm and a measure of control. Homes need to become even more than they are now to help us get through these trying times.
Since most people will not want to go outdoors as much as they used to, according to NCPropertyGroup.com homes will have to serve functions beyond their traditional ones. Their design must become more versatile to help them meet the new demands.
Thankfully, home design professionals know this and are responding to the challenge. They are creating buildings with more ability to meet people’s health, emotional and aspirational needs. This article explores some ways Coronavirus is changing home designs.
1. Focus on sanitary surfaces and material
Homes are going to have more rounded edges in their interior. Unlike angled edges, rounded edges and corners are less likely to get dirty and become a hiding place for germs. Self-sanitizing building materials will also grow in popularity. The antimicrobial qualities of brass, copper, bronze, cork, and bamboo are well-known. These materials will be more beneficial in modern homes.
2. Sanitized anterooms and entryways To maintain the home as a safe space, designers have introduced vestibules where people can decontaminate themselves before entering their homes. Members of the household who come from a public place where they have been in contact with strangers can shed their clothes and other items in this area. Visitors also disinfect themselves before they are allowed into the home.
3. Mood–lifting ambiance Homes will feature colors known to have a calming effect to protect the mental health of families. There will be even greater emphasis on natural lighting. Designers will have more tendency to use natural color tones and materials in the home. For people who work from home, bold colors in some parts of the house will inspire creativity. 4. Adjustable layouts
It will be possible to alter the layout of homes with little effort to accommodate more uses. To impart this kind of adaptability to spaces, designers are turning to adjustable walls and screens. These allow families to transform an open floor plan and create several areas for dedicated uses. With this design, the home does not have a single layout with limited usefulness.
5. Well-defined spaces for work and learning
Since most homes do not come with a study, people working from home during the lockdown had to content themselves with an improvised space. But even for homes with studies, they prove insufficient because the house needs two separate workrooms for couples living together. In addition to well-equipped offices, homes also need to provide for kids who are schooling from home.
6. Advanced air purification systems When dealing with an airborne virus, indoor air quality is critical. But modern homes are not known for their high indoor air quality. Clustering in spaces with poor indoor air quality increases the risk of respiratory disease for households. Along with designs that promote natural ventilation, designers address this problem with more efficient air purification systems that work with the HVAC.
7. Indoor play spaces
People can now perform several things they did outside their house from the confines of their homes. New home designs have elaborate features to meet people’s need for mental stimulation through play. Depending on the particular interests of the household, homes will have full-fledged gyms, saunas, movie theaters, garages that easily convert to recreation rooms, highly advanced digital media systems, and more.
8. Private outdoor spaces
Since it is not entirely possible or desirable to keep people indoors for extended periods, people need ways to get outdoors without exposing themselves. Designers are solving this problem through private outdoor spaces. These let people safely experience nature. Some innovations include new roof gardens, micro backyards, city courtyards, and more intentional landscaping designs.
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